The present invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus and method for transferring a substrate, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for transferring a substrate that withdraws a substrate from a container.
Recently, due to an increase in the diameter of semiconductor wafers from 200 mm to 300 mm, a sealed wafer container called a front open unified pod (FOUP) is being employed to protect wafers from impurities and chemical contaminants in the air. Also, because a semiconductor chip is manufactured in a fully automated system, an equipment front end module (EFEM), that acts as an interface between a wafer container and a load lock chamber within processing equipment, is installed on the processing equipment.
A transfer unit for transferring wafers is installed within the above-described EFEM. The transfer unit includes a plurality of blades that withdraws a plurality of wafers loaded into a wafer container. The blades transfer the withdrawn wafers to the load lock chamber in the processing equipment.
However, conventional transfer units are only capable of unloading the plurality of wafers within the wafer container at the same time. Therefore, an alternate device capable of selectively unloading wafers is required.